Charges framed against Chandigarh JE in bribery case

The CBI Court has framed charges against a junior engineer (JE) of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), who was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a city resident.

Bhuwan Chand, a JE in the Enforcement Wing of CHB, was arrested on the complaint of Vikas, a resident of Phase-II, Ram Darbar. Vikas had stated that on September 21, 2024, he had registered a complaint on WhatsApp against an illegal construction in Ram Darbar. When no action was taken on it, he sent reminders to the CHB on October 3 and 4.

Pursuant to that, the JE visited his house on October 18 and told him that there was a complaint against him for illegal construction. He asked the complainant to visit the CHB office on October 21.

The JE told the complainant that he was yet to transfer his complaint to senior officer. He told the complainant that he had to withdraw his complaint and had to pay him bribe to resolve the matter. The complainant then moved the complaint to the office of DIG, CBI, ACB, Chandigarh. After verification of the matter, an FIR was registered against accused.

A trap was laid and Bhuwan was caught red-handed by the CBI on November 5, 2024, while accepting Rs 5,000 from the complainant.